Former Australian children's Tv presenter Ric Marshall has been ordered to spend 25 years in detention for sexually abusing young boys in the 1970s.

The 83 year old, best known as the host of the Super Duper Flying Fun Show, was found unfit to stand trial on charges of indecent assault and unlawful sexual intercourse due to mental and physical problems, including Parkinson's disease and acute agoraphobia.

However, a judge at Australia's Supreme Court in Adelaide on Thursday (13Dec12) found there was enough evidence to conclude Marshall should spend 25 years under house arrest for the offences.

Justice Kevin Nicholson called Marshall "evil" and claimed his high-profile Tv work gave him access to his young victims, telling the court, "Mr Marshall had access to a steady stream of young vulnerable victims. He quickly won over their confidence and that of their parents... Often in a criminal court a judge comes across people who have done very bad things... It is not as often as the public might think that a judge comes across a truly bad person who is evil through and through, who seems to have no redeeming qualities. Mr Marshall is in my view an evil man through and through... I have rarely come across his like before."